Herdade da Comporta
by
Kathy Sullivan
Summary: Herdade da Comporta is located 90 minutes southeast of Lisbon, Portugal’s capital. The region is known for its rice paddies and its natural resources. Comporta is a great place to view the Atlantic Ocean during different seasons. The winery is just one kilometer from the beach.
The Herdade da Comporta winery facility consists of extended one and two-story buildings with the traditional red clay roofs frequently seen throughout Portugal. To reach the entrance we walked past a vintage green farm machine. Rice paddies were close to the winery buildings and birds were enjoying the wet paddies.
The Herdade da Comporta vineyards were first planted in the early 2000s. Today the winery has 35 hectares (86 acres) of vineyards that include 20 hectares of red varieties and 15 hectares of white varieties. Specific grape varieties include: Arinto, Antão Vaz and Aragonez. At harvest, grapes are harvested by hand. The grapes are brought to the winery in 44 pound boxes. After pressing and fermentation, the red wines are aged in American or French oak barrels.
The wine production area is located on two levels. The first level is long and filled with stainless steel tanks. The winery has an automatic stirrer that can easily move along a track from tank to tank.
Up a few steps and at the front end of the second floor, a large area is available for tasting wines. A sizable window provides views of the barrel room, with a single level of barrels. The barrels have a 500L capacity. Below the barrels, gravel lines the floor. The winemaker plays Fado music for the wine in barrels. We tasted several Herdade da Comporta wines while enjoying the views of the rice fields. While visiting the winery, there had been quite a bit of rain, but soon the sun brilliantly shone and a rainbow was spotted. The area is also known for storks and a stork was seen in the rice field. Storks are also seen on the Herdade da Comporta brand wine bottle labels, while another image of a bird is seen on the Chão Das Rolas brand labels.
Wines
We began our wine tasting using Stölzle stemware. The Chão Das Rolas 2016 was a blend of Arinto, Antão Vaz and Fernâo Pires. The wine was a light yellow color. The aroma included citrus and flowers. The taste was of citrus, daisies, roses and mineral. The crisp finish had fruit yielding to floral and mineral.
Herdade da Comporta 2017 was a blend of Arinto and Antão Vaz. The wine was a light yellow color. The aroma was of flowers especially honeysuckle and peach blossoms. The smooth taste was of yellow stone fruit, mineral, roses and honeysuckle. The finish was crisp with fruit and flowers forming a bouquet salad. The back label of the bottle notes, “This wine was made from the indigenous Portuguese grape varieties Arinto and Antão Vaz, cultivated in the sandy soils of the Herdade da Comporto estate. Growing so close to the sea, the grapes benefit from cool nights, which makes for a delightfully fresh, intensely aromatic white wine.”
Verdelho Private Selection 2016, Vinho Regional Península de Setúbal was a yellow color. The 12.5% alcohol wine had a floral aroma. The wine had a velvety mouthfeel. Roses, yellow stone fruit, citrus and mineral were on the taste. The finish was crisp with fruit and flowers yielding to mineral.
The 2015 Chão Das Rtals was a blend of Castelão, Aragonez, Trincadeira and Alicante Bouschet. The wine was an opaque dark ruby color with a purple hue. The wine had a cherry aroma. The taste was of cherries and mocha. The wine was medium/full-bodied with medium/bold tannins. The finish was of fruit yielding to spice.
Private Selection 2015, Vinho Regional Península de Setúbal, was a blend of Touriga Nacional, Castelão, and Syrah. The wine was a dark ruby color and had 14% alcohol. The aroma was of black fruits. The velvety mouthfeel was full-bodied with bold tannins. The wine offered notes of blackberry, blueberry and plum. The finish was fruity and spicy.
Herdade da Comporta Estate
The Herdade da Comporta estate offers much more than a winery and vineyards. The property has 1,100 hectares (2,718 acres) of rice paddies. These rice paddies produce approximately 14,330,000 pounds. Other unique aspects of the estate are the flora and fauna. The property is filled with 17,000 plus acres of forest. The estate has a sandy beach of 7.5 miles. The wetlands of the estate attract birds from near and far. It is known that more than 200 species of birds pass through the estate.
In addition to visiting the Herdade da Comporta winery, take time to learn more about this large estate.
Herdade da Comporta
Espaço Comporta, EN 253, km 1
7580 - 610 Comporta Portugal
Article written March 2018.
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